Joey Barton has branded French players vain, lazy, troublemakers – and claimed they only went to the gym to look good on the beach.

The Burnley midfielder spent a year on loan at Marseille in 2012-13 when the southern club finished second in Ligue 1.

But in an interview with newspaper Journal du Dimanche, Barton criticised the work ethic of the players he found at the French club.

“For them, it [work] is not compatible with talent,” he said. “If you are talented, no need to work. If you work hard, it is because you don't have talent.

Barton in his time at Marseille (Image: Dean Mouhtaropoulos)

Barton's time in France wasn't without its problems (Image: Rex)

"They even convince themselves that they have more talent by working less. Bizarre, right?

“At Marseille, I thought they had twigged when I saw them go to work in the gym. But no, it was to look good before going to Ibiza in June!”

Barton, who made 30 appearances for Marseille on loan from QPR, added: “Even if I didn't score a lot, I was important in the dressing-room. There were quite a few cliques and I had the feeling I was trying to keep a lot of plates spinning.

"They were good players, good guys, but the French have a great talent for creating problems. It has to be a culture. When everything is going well, you throw in a hand grenade to see what happens.”